Monthly Archives: April 2012

Ex Eidos, Digital Reality, Most Wanted Entertainment, 3D Brigade, Glass Fish Games employees decided the reunite and for a new game company called 4Flash.
Their first title which is in development for 2 years now is the C&C and Sudden Strike inspired, real time strategy game “Sword Of Justice“.

Sadly it currently looks that they would need a lot of luck (and funds) to reach their goal of $195,000 , and while it sounds like much – the game looks so much better …

“It is to those who loved C&C and Sudden Strike; to those who like when AI not to react in a pre-ordained manner; when the gamer with good tactics is able to win even against overwhelming odds; To those who like to upgrade the given units and use them in a manner that takes best advantage of them.”

The Project
The game presents a post WWII fictive story. The campaign consists of 12 principal fields. Each field is made up of one principal mission and two subsidiary missions. At the end of each field the player receives experience-points and upgrade tokens. There is no pre-determined difficulty level in the game. Each field starts with parameters suitable for normal level. If during the game, based on losses and other data the regime determines that we can not cope with the machine, then the game changes to an easier level. If the gamer plays better than the AI, the program advances to a higher level of difficulty and the field continues with those settings. According to plans, two gamers may play a single campaign in cooperative mode. Naturally the level of difficulty also is considerably greater.

The multi-player mode consists of two parts: In one, during the usual choice of field we can play free battles ranging from 1 against 1 to 4 against 4. Each player has own profile in which he/she sets initially the colors of the nation he/she starts in. It is here possible to inspect how many battles have been won and lost by the gamer and the number of points credited. If e. g., from a battle between a more and a less experienced gamer the weaker comes out on top that gamer receives a higher number of points than would be the case were a more experienced gamer to win. The pother type of multi-player mode is part of a game of global territorial occupation. In this each player starts in the colors of his/her nation On the map each state (gamer) initially lords over a given territory. He may then attack states with common boundaries to these.

We receive a player from among the ones of the attacked state who will play with us on the given field. The territory joins the state that has more battles won on the given field. In this manner a state can expand on the greater map.

The game primarily presents the military might of the Eastern European States. (Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, Rumania – in the case of multi-player mode only –in conjunction with the units of Japan (initially). With this these games no longer conform to the market of earlier WWII strategic games, in which mostly we can only meet with British, American and German forces.

Units
On account of the complex system of upgrading we planned fewer but more transparent and easier to use units in the game each of which is unique in its field but due to this we can build up strategies that are more easily combined.

On each side we can meet up with 2 heavy Armour, 1 self-propelled gun, 3 light armored vehicles of the wheeled armored sub-type (commander, heavy machine-gun and flame-thrower), repair- and transport-trucks as well as 3 varieties of guns.
Infantry consists of the usual rifle, machine-gun, marksmen, anti-tank, first aid and commander units. Thus 20 different units are at our disposal. Each unit is characterised by what it is best suited for. The player can easily oversight his sources of strength and thus build his strategy.

The Field Of The Game
At the beginning the buildings of the basis should be built on the playing field. The player can produce those units the building of it is already ready. There are long distance radio transmitters on the plating fields. The commandant communicates with the troops of other field with the aids of these towers. The player receives money for the ownership of them from that he may build, produce or purchase tokens necessary for upgrading. We may meet municipal, provincial or industrial environment on the playing fields but there are also bridges and rivers. An important property of the fields that we can not play on a plain filed at all as is used to do in other games. Huge level differences precipitous embankments make the game field manifold in which the relationships to the terrain can well be utilised. In this case the nits of the enemy turn already to be visible from a higher point however he/she does not see to the top. The lovers of the series of the Sudden Strike know it well. Thus with the units positioned in a good strategic point it is easy possible to overcome a many time stronger unit.

Upgrades
The upgrading of units takes place in three categories for which we pay with tokens. There is scope for training of the selected type in the area of defense, attack strength and manpower. Each of them in six steps. In the course of these we can obtain such extra options as intelligent choice of aim or cooperation with other units or the possibility of calling for reinforcements or retreat in the case of critical injury…

AI
In the course of playing against the machine following the possibly fleeing unit the player can easily run into a trap or run onto a minefields having been settled. The aim is that the AI (artificial intelligence) should try to bring logical decisions adjusting itself to the style of the player, rather than follow pre-generated road maps and plans.

From among our units, it is the commander whose role also diverges from the usual ones. E. g., he can not see further but his role is to coordinate the units within his radius of action. Thanks to this –if allowed –he can call reinforcements for a tank engaged in battle or even send a damaged tank to a more protected area or he can tell the unit which enemy to attack and order priorities. Thus e. g. our tanks do not attack the nearer infantry that are less dangerous to them, but attack the farther situated tanks even if they came within the area of sight later. It is possible with the commander unit to provide aiming points for artillery or bombing aircraft.

A further characteristic of the game is the delay of orders. Here the player can switch in this situation temporarily for the given unit . Here if he gives the order where to go, or what to attack it continues to wait until we give a global order to carry out the action. In this case all units move together and one need not be a wizard with the mouse in order to move more units and to different points at the same time.

After the huge protest from the GNU/Linux community the Shadowrun Return developers decided to support GNU/Linux IF 1Million is pledged.
Currently they have $819,695 which means that we need about $180,400 for a GNU/Linux client.
That sounds like a lot, and it is a lot – but we are not alone as there are many other fans who will donate to Shadowrun Returns and I’m sure that by Apr 29 (17 more days) we will reach the 1Million goal.

It’s obvious that there are a lot of very passionate fans out there who are clamoring for Linux support, and we would love to be able to include everyone in Shadowrun Returns.

As we said over the weekend, we’re being very careful not to over-commit to ideas and features (especially just to get more funding).

When we added the Mac version of the game (thanks to your enthusiastic support), we did it because we have the necessary Mac experience in-house and our development environment already supports PC and Mac. We were confident that we could deliver without over-burdening the overall product.

Linux is a bit of a different story, however. While it’s true that we have a great environment for cross-platform development (how else could we target PC, Mac, iOS, AND Android!), it does not, at this time, include support for Linux. Because of this and because we needed to add Linux to our small studio’s skill-set, we felt that committing to a Linux version was unwise, so we (reluctantly) took it off the table.

Since that time, two important things have happened:

We reached out to members of the Linux community to better understand the scope and developmental risk that a Linux port would introduce.

Our partners at Zipline Games (the creators of our dev environment, Moai) have rearranged their development roadmap to support Shadowrun Returns and add Linux to their list of supported platforms.

So here’s the deal: We can now say with confidence that if we hit our $1M stretch goal, we will be able to partner with the right external developer, port Shadowrun Returns to Linux, and deliver it in a reasonable amount of time after the game is released.

We’ll also add it to the $15 reward level (alongside the PC/Mac versions). Now if you’re a Linux-only user, you’ll have to wait for your version, but from what you’ve told us, you’re willing to do that.

Thanks again for all the support, the constructive comments, and for your patience.

Besides Kickstarter there is also another platform for raising funds for the development of indie project…it’s Indiegogo !

A Russian team called FakeDrake (which I’m hope isn’t fake ) wants to develop a Zombie survival RPG game called ZombieForward built using a costume game engine which supports GNU/Linux.
The game is a sandbox-style survival RPG set in post apocalyptic zombie infested world !
The graphics will be classic Isometric Fallout style (Fallout 1-2, not 3 ) in high-definition.

LGN :What kind of graphics/music can we expect from the game ?
Do you have some screenshots or demos to show ? (concept art could look so far from the actual game).

What engine are you using (I know it’s written that you will support Linux, but…. will you ) ?

Can you add a digital perk which includes the game and a digital art-book ? (and another perk which also includes a digital music).

Apart from survival, what aspects of RPG can we find in the game, compares to Fallout1/2 for example, like : missions, NPC’s, Party, leveling, influence on the game world by your deeds and the way you solve the quests etc… ?

Thanks
Maxim.

Georgiy Romanov :Hello, Maxim. Thanks for you questions, here is you answers.
I will not give you a definite answer about NPCs, I will say one thing – they are in the game. Some of them will give the quests (this quests are optional, but without passing them you could lose a lot of fun and some interesting game moments).

RPG elements: As you can see from the description we will give players the opportunity to build their own characters. For this purpose, we’re introducing 8 groups of skills into the game. 2 of which will be main, other – secondary. This will directly affect the play style, because the main skills will allow access to the special objects and skills, not available to the other characters.

Work on the skill will be made up from the improving it and holding on the current skill level. It is pretty hard so you could not creat a real the master of all trades. That’s why we encourage players to invite their friends.
Unfortunately now we have not any screenshots due to the fact that our artist joined us recently.
About music: there will be 2 main areas of musical design: the brutal and not very brutal metal (rock) and the melodic, depressive, ambient.

About our engine: luckily, we’re writing our own one. Thats why we can take care of making it cross-platform enough.
About perks: we’re happy to say that the perks more than $20 will provide access to download digital copies of the soundtrack and art-book. We will add this feature in the nearest update.

Hello, Survivor!

What is ZombieForward? It’s a sandbox-style PC game, where player can choose what to do, where to go, etc. The game takes place in the near future, about 2050 year, in the apocalyptic world, due to epidemic, full of zombies who want to kick your ass.

There are enough problems in addition to zombies. You need to look for food, drinking water, or you will die soon, watching status warnings. To kill hordes of enemies you will need some weapon, some of which you can do by your own hands, also you will need healthy sleep and some medicine to cure illnesses.

If you want to survive you will need to use your brain and fight for your life! Other things you could find in various places, sometimes not even suitable for them!

Will you survive?

What can I do in your game?

You can choose one of 24 combined classes of survivors.

You can use a lots of amazing found/constructed weapons to fight for your life.

You can build your own Stronghold to survive in such a cruel world.

You can find/construct vehicle/motorbike/boat/etc. to explore huge, random-generate world.

You can do all of it with you best friends, in a close groups. You can travel together or separate into small groups to look after stronghold and explore world at the same time!

What I have to do in your game?

You must look for food, drink, medicines, ammo, clothes, etc to survive.

You must find safe place to survive, or make some of pther places safe!

You have to kill crowds of terrible monsters, fight with the modern deseases.

Can I manage my own character?

Yes! We have 4 iconic characters, but if you want to make your own character to play you can do it, using 8 perks, 4 body types, huge amount of beards, haircuts, etc.

This way, you can play as Soldier, Scoundrel, Medic, Engeneer, or make you own!

What kind of graphics do you use?

This game will be mostly like a Fallout, Bastion or Alien Shooter. Isometrical with the sprite objects. But all this will be available in a High Defenition.

When your game will be released?

When it will be done =) But not later then 1st of March 2013. We hope Zombie_Forward will be available to play in 5-6 months.

Winter Wolves the developer of many Visual Novel games (that use the FOSS Ren’Py game engine) are now offering all of their games (except Loren which still in beta) at 40% discount !
All you have to do is to enter “EASTER” at the coupon field when you order.

Recently a lot of games that promises a GNU/Linux clients are featured on Kickstarter. One of those promising games is Nekro which lets you take control of the dark forces and bring death and destruction on the poor mortals.While the game theme is dark (we are dealing with evil forces here), the graphic is cute and cartoonish, so that might be a turn-off for some people.

WHAT IS NEKRO?

Nekro is an overhead, randomly generated action game about summoning evil forces of darkness to do your bidding!

Hailing from the era of great classics such as Myth: The Fallen Lords, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Dungeon Keeper and more, we are creating a game rooted deep in PC gaming’s history, but with all the flourishes you’ve come to expect from a modern experience.

Combining full HD graphics, a unique premise, solid gameplay, and tight controls Nekro can be one hell of a game – but not without you…

THE GAME

We love that old school gameplay with new school flare and attitude. For Nekro, we decided to combine the best elements from our favorite games of the last couple decades while adding in our own personal twist.

Nekro is a light-hearted yet dark themed game about controlling a powerful necromancer. The game’s premise was created from a conversation that went something like this: “Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a game where you could just walk into an innocent town, raise a bunch of zombies, skeletons and monsters and watch while they rip the townspeople to shreds?” Then we paused and said, “Well, why isn’t there?” What followed was many nights concepting, discussing and creating. “Wouldn’t it be cool if the Nekro could craft his own spells, but…collecting reagents in a randomly generated world!” The cumulative result of these discussions is what you see before you.

In Nekro, you are the bad guy; a powerful necromancer able to create unthinkable horrors out of the twisted lifeless corpses of your enemy. Blood is your fuel; razing towns and slaughtering anything that opposes you is your creed. Even though you are evil, the humans of the land are corrupted, and will stop at nothing to wipe you out. You will face many enemies and challenges in the world of Nekro. Here’s some of the content rich features you can expect to see in the final product:

A completely randomized world: Never play the same game twice.

Fully-integrated crafting system: Your spells and ‘armor sets’ are created with the things you find in the world…and the things you take from those within it.

A beautiful and rich world to explore: Nekro will have a host of unique tilesets and locations. From the burning hells to the ravaged lands of the east there will always be a new place to go, and as always, all of them are randomly generated. The game will put a big emphasis on exploration and discovery. The world is teeming with things to find and enemies to conquer.

Unique creature-based gameplay: Your summons will do your bidding but are not under your direct control. Each creature you create will have a set of behaviors unique to it. It’s up to you to find the best combination of creatures to use for each situation. However, the nekro himself isn’t powerless. If all else fails, you can always run intro the fray; transforming into a powerful demon and lay waste to your enemies.

World changing events: Each faction of the game (the nekro, the humans and the neutrals) gets their own world events that happen at random and can drastically effect the outcome of a fight. The nekro casts the world into Eternal Darkness, boosting his power. The neutrals summon The Werewolves of the Full Moon, spawning deadly werewolves across the land. And the humans call upon The Crusaders of the King, sending out extremely powerful templars to hunt monsters.

Available for PC, Mac and Linux: And completely DRM Free! (We hate it as much as you)

“As part of our review, we came to the conclusion that feature additions such as aLinux version, Multiplayer PvP, and Cooperative Play are beyond the scope of the project and would cause us to lose focus on the game you reacted to so positively (and the game we really want to make).

When Shadowrun Returns comes out (and is the success we all want it to be), we promise to look at these features as the core of a future release.”

It’s pity that after they achieved their goal and even raised more money than they asked for, they backed down from their promise on the GNU/Linux port.
It’s really a shame that some developers say that making a GNU/Linux port with somehow “cause them to lose focus on the game”, it’s a known fact that when you develop your game cross platform from the start, your game will be rock solid and much more stable.
That alone should make them want to create a GNU/Linux client.
They also will have a MacOS and Android ports, so porting to GNU/Linux should be easier – they just don’t have the will and knowledge to do it.
They can’t complain that they have no funds for it.

With that saying, there is still a chance for a GNU/Linux client AFTER the game will be released for all other platforms.

“Hi, I’m Notch, and this is my new game. It’s going to be a space game, and it’s quite ambitious!
The game is still extremely early in development, but like we did with Minecraft, we expect to release it early and let the players help me shape the game as it grows.”

Backstory and Setting
In a parallel universe where the space race never ended, space travel was gaining popularity amongst corporations and rich individuals.
In 1988, a brand new deep sleep cell was released, compatible with all popular 16 bit computers. Unfortunately, it used big endian, whereas the DCPU-16 specifications called for little endian. This led to a severe bug in the included drivers, causing a requested sleep of 0×0000 0000 0000 0001 years to last for 0×0001 0000 0000 0000 years.
It’s now the year 281 474 976 712 644 AD, and the first lost people are starting to wake up to a universe on the brink of extinction, with all remote galaxies forever lost to red shift, star formation long since ended, and massive black holes dominating the galaxy.

Game Features

The game is still very early in development, but here is a list of things we hope to include:

The Generator and the Computer
Each ship has a generator capable of producing a fixed wattage, and everything you connect to it drains wattage. A cloaking field, for example, might require almost all the power from the generator, forcing you to turn off all computers and dim all lights in order to successfully cloak.
The computer in the game is a fully functioning emulated 16 bit CPU that can be used to control your entire ship, or just to play games on while waiting for a large mining operation to finish.
Full specifications of the CPU will be released shortly, so the more programatically advanced of you can get a head start.

Avadon: The Black is an old school crpg game created by the legendary Spiderweb Software which created many other old school crpg’s.
Avadon was recently featured on The Humble Indie Bundle.
For everyone who might missed this great offer there is the chance to buy the GNU/Linux version from Gameolith.

I’ve spoken a bit with Jonathan Prior from Gameolith on why should we buy Avadon now, after the HiB is over.
He said that the sales from the Humble Indie Bundle have already covered the cost of the port and that the GNU/Linux version will only be available from Gameolith for the time being.
He also said that this is a test for Gameolith to see if there is money to be made out of GNU/Linux games outside the Humble Indie Bundles.
If they can shift enough units, they can get money from investors for new GNU/Linux ports.
If not, GNU/Linux will cease to be their primary platform and they will concentrate on Windows and MacOS.

So to conclude “If we can get enough sales, then we’ll be able to fund new GNU/Linux ports”.

About Avadon: The Black Fortress
Avadon: The Black Fortress is an epic, Indie fantasy role-playing saga. Form a band of skilled warriors, explore dungeons, hunt for treasure, learn many unique and powerful skills, and attempt to unravel a conspiracy to destroy your homeland!

Five great nations have banded together to form The Pact. The Pact is defended by Avadon, a secretive sect of spies and assassins. Its agents are everywhere. Its word is law.

You have been recruited as a Hand of Avadon, charged with missions that require swift action and a heavy fist. However, the enemies of the Pact have plans of their own, and Hands of Avadon are being picked off one by one. It will fall to you to struggle to survive and to reveal that plot that could shatter the safety of The Pact and plunge your homeland into chaos.

But beware. Allies are few. Traitors are everywhere. And the closer you come to the truth, the closer their assassins will come to you.